Sounders on way to setting MLS attendance record

The Qwest Field crazies have been loud and proud from the first game of the Sounders FC season. (Seattlepi.com/Josh Trujillo)

Congratulations, Seattle Sounders FC fans. Give yourselves a hand. Or a “scarf’s up.” Or whatever seems proper for a fan base that is on its way to setting an attendance record in its first season of play in Major League Soccer.

While the home season only passes the halfway point Wednesday when Seattle hosts D.C. United at Qwest Field, the Sounders have virtually assured themselves already of breaking the MLS single-season attendance record of 28,916 set by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the league’s first season in 1996.

The Sounders currently are averaging 29,401 fans and that number now will go even higher when the team opens up more available seating at Qwest Field starting with its next home game on June 28 against Colorado.

Scarf’s up has become one of many traditions for Seattle’s newest fan base. (Seattlepi.com/Josh Trujillo)

At that point, about 32,000 seats will be available and all indications are that the club will sell those out, just as it has its initial seven home games in the current 28,000-plus configuration.

Seattle’s opening day crowd of 32,523 filled the expanded seating arrangement that will be available for all remaining home games after this week. Tickets remain available for each of those final seven Qwest Field contests.

But given the Sounders already are averaging more than the record 28,916 set by the Galaxy, it’s safe to say Seattle will set a new standard for MLS attendance.

Only 18 teams have averaged more than 20,000 for a full season in the league’s previous 14 years and the average league-wide attendance has never exceeded the 17,406 set in that inaugural 1996 year.

This year’s league average — even with Seattle’s record-setting pace — is at just 14,883, a number that figures to climb some as the summer months approach. But Dallas is averaging just 8,770 fans per game and Kansas City is at 9,703.

Clearly Seattle has brought some needed life to the league, but there is plenty of room for the rest of the MLS to catch up.